The Era of the Sixth: The Dawn of a New Age
by The 85th Naruto
Summary: Watch as Naruto grows into the role of the Sixth Hokage. But with Madara's threat ended and a new one on the horizon does Naruto have what it takes? And what of his relationship with Sakura? Will he get the girl of his dreams? Find out! First story ever so please R&R.
1. A New Perspective

Disclaimer: Pretty obvious here but to avoid confusion and punishments and lawsuits. I don't own the Naruto universe. The great Masashi Kishimoto does.

A/N: "Speech" - _"Thought" - _**"Tailed Beast" **- Also, since Naruto has Chakra Mode and all that. I will clarify how I'll have things to better paint a visual in your minds. Chakra Mode is how Naruto looked when he first got control of Kurama's chakra. Kurama Mode will refer to his second stage with the chakra formed cloak and Naruto's black shirt. Tailed Beast/Kurama Mode is the Nine Tails made from chakra. I'll simply refer to this as Kurama himself. If that's ok with you folks

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_"To be Hokage means to endure that pain...to walk in front of everyone and lead by example...to be the one who destroys any obstacles and paves the way for everyone else."_

_-Naruto Uzumaki_

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_Episode 1: A New Perspective_

_Season 1: The Era of the Sixth: The Dawn of a New Age_

_***Unknown Location***_

The Fourth Great Ninja War had been going on for quite some time. Although, for the masked man currently seated within the temple it had gone on long enough. His dark black hair seemed to blend in within the shadows of which he was seated within the dimly lit room. His gray mask had two eyeholes cut into it and strongly resembled Obito Uchiha's mask only without the surrounding lines. His shirt was all black as were his pants and gloves and he wore ANBU armor beneath his black robe. The kunai pouch attached to the back of his left hip along his waistline and strapped to his right thigh was his shuriken pouch. He had two katana strapped to his back with the hilt sticking up just above his right and left shoulders. The only indication that he was seated there were his two sharingan eyes staring at the entrance to his chambers. He was seated in a throne carved out of stone. Pillars and the occasional torch lined the room. He looked to his right and eyed his messenger. The cold look he gave was enough to paralyze anyone and would cause infants to cry. He had frightened powerful shinobi with a single glance. Even his father...

"My lord," his messenger spoke cautiously. The masked man was growing irritated. "_I may lose yet another pawn." _He thought, _"But...no. I must hold patience. HE could make good use of these pawns."_

"My lord," his messenger said again. The masked man looked to his messenger, "the war appears to be coming to an end. Your father's companion, Obito, has moved to the enemy and your father is losing ground against the Nine Tails and that Sasuke."

The masked man looked back to the entrance and said in a deep, low voice, "Very well. Finish the recruitments. I want all our larger weapons made mobile at once."

The messenger nodded and walked to the entrance.

"Oh, and one last thing."

The messenger turned and the masked man leaned forward in his throne slightly and glared at his messenger and growled in a low, threatening voice that frightened his messenger. "Bring me Kabuto Yakushi."

_***Meanwhile - On the Battlefield***_

The smoke and dust was awful but even worse was the way things were looking. Some of the troops looked on as Sasuke raced on his hawk to where the tailed beasts were. Others couldn't believe how things had gone. First, Naruto's reanimated father shows up and saves them from the Ten Tails. Then, Sasuke shows up and fights alongside Naruto as though Sasuke had never defected. Naruto was fighting for his life and the entire shinobi world and Sasuke was racing to join the fight and rescue Naruto. Madara had summoned the Gedo Statue once again but only had his right eye which was in the form of the Rinnegan and he was eying down the Tailed Beasts. And now...

"Nine Demon Leashes!" Madara yelled. The Gedo Statue opened its mouth and out came the nine chains wrapping around the necks of all nine Tailed Beasts. Sasuke wasn't close enough to cut the chains so he settled to activating his Susano'o and launching a barrage of arrows at Madara. But each one was blown away by the Rinnegan. Madara gave a sadistic smile. "Is that all you can do Sasuke?! A pity!"

Sasuke growled slightly and thought, _"Tch. He's managed to repel every arrow. But let's try this." _Sasuke flew through a few hand signs and yelled, "_Inferno_ _Style_: _Yasaka_ _Magatamas_!" and just like that his Susano'o whipped a barrage of these large magatamas at Madara with such force they could have crashed through Madara merely smiled. He stretched out his hands with his palms facing the direction that Sasuke's attack was coming from and yelled, "_Almighty_ _Push_!"

When the two jutsus connected Sasuke's jutsu had been blown apart and dispersed as the leashes on the tailed beasts began dragging them in starting with Shukaku the One Tail and working their way up. Sasuke willed his hawk to move faster. The One through Five Tails had been sucked in already but Sasuke wasn't nearly close enough to make the leap to cut Naruto and the rest of the Tailed Beasts free.

_"Hold on," _Sasuke thought. _"Just a little longer and I'll be able to make the leap and free you guys so keep fighting Naruto."_

Naruto saw Sasuke coming and looked at Madara. "Come on Kurama!" He screamed. "We've gotta keep fighting back and buy Sasuke a little more time!"

"**Shut up!** **You think I don't know that!** **But I can't fight back much longer**" Kurama dug his tails into the ground. "**Naruto! Uchiha brat! It's now or never!**"

While Kurama and Naruto had been speaking the Saiken (the Six Tails) and Choumei (the Seven Tails) had been dragged in and Gyuuki was almost there. Sasuke quickly jumped off his hawk, dismissing it and went into his full body Susano'o mode and created the Susano'o sword and swung it down on the leashes of Kurama and Gyuuki freeing them both. Madara cried out and an invisible force slammed into the Kurama Mode Naruto, Gyuuki, and Sasuke; throwing them all to the ground. Naruto and Kurama growled and stood back up.

"Sasuke! Get up! We need to combine Tailed Beast Mode with your Susano'o again!" yelled Naruto as he looked to his downed friend. Sasuke slowly controlled his Susano'o to stand up.

Sasuke looked back to Naruto. "Agreed."

Naruto's Kurama Mode was quickly encased by Sasuke's Susano'o armor with both Naruto and Sasuke hovering in the mouth of Naruto's Kurama Mode. Naruto grinned at Madara. "Let's see you take the Nine Tails now!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Naruto don't be so loud. Focus."

Naruto glared at his comrade. "Shut up Sasuke! I'm way stronger than you anyways you asshole!"

Madara formed a few hand seals before clapping his hands together. "Let's see your form deal with this. Heaven's Rain!"

An ominous shadow quickly began to descend and black out the sky. Clouds slowly began to part to show a multitude of large meteors falling towards the earth. Sasuke quickly scanned each one trying to count when he came across a startling realization. _"Dammit! There's no way Naruto and I can destroy each one and there's no guarantee that taking down Madara will get rid of them either. We'll just have to take out the ones that pose the greatest threat to Naruto and I." _But Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted when Kurama's armored mouth opened up and Naruto stretched his hands and arms out towards the opening. Sasuke looked at him. "Naruto what are you-"

"I'm gonna try to take out most of them." Naruto interrupted Sasuke. Naruto then looked to the rest of the army. "You guys! Hit those damn rocks with your best long range attacks and blow 'em to hell!"

In front of the armored Kurama's mouth began to form a Tailed Beast Bomb. But this one was different in size and appearance. Four chakra blades were spinning around the Tailed Beast Bomb giving it the appearance of Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken only it was much larger and with a Tailed Beast Bomb at the center.

Madara watched the jutsu form. _"Such power...I'll have to prevent that jutsu from forming."_

With that thought the Gedo Statue took a lumbering step forward. Those steps turned into strides and it finally broke into a run straight at Naruto and Sasuke. Madara's Susano'o flared to life around him as the Gedo Statue charged Naruto and Sasuke. "Like I'll let you take the time to form that!"

Sasuke was about to move the armored Kurama to counter when Naruto stopped him. "Sasuke don't! We'll only get one chance at this shot on those damned rocks! If we move the jutsu will break and we'll never get this blast off. Sakura and the others could die. We have to wait and make this count."

To say that Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's newfound maturity was an understatement. The Naruto Sasuke always knew was loud, brash, impulsive, reckless, and was never very good at strategizing. But this, this gave Sasuke a new respect for Naruto. _"Naruto," _he thought. _"You've really grown up haven't you?" _"Tch. Fine. But hurry."

Naruto gave a curt nod and concentrated trying to speed up the process of forming his attack. Sasuke looked back and saw Madara with his Susano'o's sword raised above it's head and ready to strike. _"Shit! We're out of time! Naruto's jutsu didn't form fast enough!" _And with that the chakra sword came down.

***_Meanwhile***_

It had been dark before but the sky got even darker when Madara had launched his jutsu. Screams from the other shinobi troops and samurai caused others to look up and stare. Some sank to their knees while others killed themselves. Madara had implemented chaos upon the ninja world once again. It was hard to tell how far Madara's jutsu had reached but Shikamaru knew one thing was certain. They had to counter it and fast. When Naruto had shouted that command Shikamaru relayed the order to the entire alliance with the instruction that they wait for his signal. Shikamaru looked up as Madara's meteor shower came falling. Closer and closer the large boulders got to the earth.

Shikamaru had seen Madara and the Gedo Statue bullrush Naruto and Sasuke and he came to the startling realization. This was it. The fate of the world was once again in Naruto's hands. But as Shikamaru pondered this he realized something else. It was in HIS hands too, and not just Sasuke's. But his very own as well. Shikamaru's gaze travelled all across the falling rocks, analyzing the pattern if any, and trying to formulate strategies. Shikamaru's eyes widened with a gasp as the Fourth Hokage, Kakashi, and...Obito Uchiha appeared before him. Although, Obito was leaning heavily on Kakashi.

Shikamaru stared at the Fourth Hokage. _"This is..."_ The Fourth looked back at Shikamaru. _"Naruto's dad..."_

Then, Minato smiled. "You're a friend of my son's aren't you? Thank you for the help." Then Minato turned his smile towards the meteors and his smile disappeared. "I will enter Nine Tails Mode and attack each meteor." _"With the Second unable to move I won't be able to teleport but I have to try to help Naruto as best as I can."_

Suddenly Minato was surrounded by the open jaw of Kurama. Unlike Naruto's Kurama Mode, Minato's was a dark, rich red color. More of an orange actually. Soon the whole head of Minato's Kurama Mode lifted off the ground and the entirety of Minato's Kurama Mode was formed. Minato looked up to the meteors scanning each one discerning an attack pattern. Minato snapped his gaze back to Kakashi and Obito an idea formulating. _"I wonder if I can share Kurama's chakra with them like Naruto did."_

Minato had made up his mind and called out. "Kakashi! Obito!" His two former students looked up to him as Minato made two clones both jumping out of the mouth of Minato's Nine Tail Mode. The two Minatos landed in front of Kakashi and Obito and both clones placed their hands on Kakashi and Obito respectively. The Nine Tails cloak enveloped both Kakashi and Obito as Minato's clones dispersed.

"Obito! Kakashi! You guys should have enough chakra to use Kamui to get rid of a few of those meteors." Minato called down to them. But Shikamaru looked to Kakashi then back at Minato.

"Lord Fourth," Shikamaru started. "I don't think Kakashi-sensei is used to using that jutsu on such a large scale. And I'm not sure Obito has enough chakra."

"But we'll manage." Obito stated with confidence as he looked up to his former sensei. Minato gave a nod and with that his Kurama Mode leapt high into the sky, right at the falling meteor. Kakashi turned his gaze to his old friend and comrade.

"Obito..." Kakashi started but was quickly interrupted by the formerly mentioned teammate.

"Kakashi. Don't waste your words on me. The least I can do now...is die protecting the current Naruto!" Obito all but screamed at the end as he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. And in his own mind he screamed, _"Kamui!" _One of the meteors slowly began to disappear with a swirl, being transported into the Kamui dimension. Kakashi quickly locked his own Mangekyou on the same meteor and yelled. "Kamui!"

The meteor disappeared at twice the speed and Kakashi and Obito began locking onto other meteors. Shikamaru sat back and watched. _"While they may be able to get rid of a few. Kakashi-sensei can't keep this up and who knows how long Obito can keep this up. The Fourth Hokage can't take all of them out either."_

Shikamaru snapped his head in Ino's direction. "Ino. Connect me to every shinobi on the battlefield. Now."

"Right!" Ino closed her eyes in deep concentration and placed her hand on the crown of Shikamaru's head. Right where the parietal bones of the skull meet at the sagittal suture. With a curt nod, Shikamaru began talking to every troop inside their minds.

"Listen up everyone. You guys all heard Naruto. We need to take out those meteors. The Fourth Hokage, Kakashi, and Obito are taking a few of them out but they can only do so much. Everyone, break up into your battle regiments and use your best long range attacks when I give the signal."

As Shikamaru spoke this last part Minato had destroyed five or six of the meteors and Kakashi and Obito had run out of usable chakra in the midst of using Kamui on their seventh. But at least a dozen other meteors were closing in fast._"Just a little more," _Shikamaru thought. _"A little closer and I'll give the signal." _That was, until Ino collapsed from chakra exhaustion. Choji managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Shikamaru turned looked at Sakura.

"Sakura! Quick! Ino's passed out." A single leap brought Sakura to where Shikamaru and Ino was. Sakura placed her hands on Ino's chest and her green healing chakra emanated from her hands. Sakura quickly focused on healing Ino as fast as she could. But the glow from her chakra quickly grew dim before finally fading. Sakura breathed a deep sigh and caught herself from falling. _"Ino's used up too much chakra. I can't heal something like this. She has to recover through rest." _Sakura looked up at the falling meteors. _"But we don't have time. Without Ino, Shikamaru can't give the attack order."_

Sakura looked at Shikamaru, desperation clearly etched upon her face. "Ino doesn't have the chakra. And I can't heal something like this. She needs rest."

"Dammit!" Shikamaru looked up at the falling meteors and raised his hand quickly and dropped it just as fast trying to give the attack signal. Soldiers quickly began launching their attacks and jutsus. The meteors though seemed to be unaffected by these attacks. All these attacks seemed to do was break off large chunks of debris causing damage, injury, and death to members of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

"Shit!" Shikamaru yelled. As the meteor above them came crashing down on him and the others. That's when it and at least half of the remaining meteors exploded into shards of debris that rained upon Shikamaru, Sakura and the others. Shikamaru had just managed to get a glimpse of a Rasenshuriken looking jutsu fly into the meteor field and expanded in an explosion destroying the aforementioned meteors. Shikamaru looked back in the direction of which it came, where there was a fierce battle taking place. Before Shikamaru sank to his knees and passed out from exhaustion he had one thought. _"Win...Naruto."_

_***Meanwhile***_

"_Wind Style: Tailed Beast Shuriken Bomb_!" Yelled Naruto and Kurama as the armored Nine Tails lifted his head and launched the newly formed jutsu. Madara cried out in surprise as Naruto's jutsu flew past taking off a part of Madara's Susano'o. It zoomed high directly into the midst of the falling meteors. Naruto's jutsu expanded and exploded destroying some of the meteors close by and the shockwave from the explosion destroyed the rest. Madara watched in horror and witnessed the awesome power of Naruto's jutsu.

But when he turned his eye back on Naruto and Sasuke an armored claw wielding a sword came slashing at him. Madara counted with his own Susano'o sword and his other sword stabbed at the armored Nine Tails. But this stab did not even penetrate and a swipe from Kurama forced the Gedo Statue back. A barrage of swipes and slashes and sweeping armored tails brought the Gedo Statue down and Madara fell. His cracked Susano'o shattered on impact with the ground and a small crater was formed around him.

As an armored tail came down on where Madara landed Naruto smirked and yelled, "Take this!"

But that tail was quickly blown back as Madara appeared in the gem on the forehead of his perfect Susano'o. Madara began a maniacal laugh. His blue armored Susano'o drew his sword.

"You two kids are worthy opponents, better than Hashirama even, but with my perfect Susano'o there's nothing left to this battle."

Sasuke stared at Madara, and spoke in that calm voice as always. "You forget what we have right now. The combined powers of the Nine Tails and the Susano'o. Don't underestimate us."

Naruto glared and yelled, "Not to mention that Sasuke and I are best friends! We won't let you use the Infinite Tsukuyomi! Peace like that is nothing but one big lie! It's not even peace! It's just you controlling all of us! There's no way I'll let that happen! Because all my friends and comrades, the whole army, the Five Great Nations, all the innocent people in them, the entire world! Everyone will be put under that jutsu! And so long as I'm still breathing there's no way I'll let you win!"

With Naruto's final exclamation the armored Kurama charged at Madara. Madara gave a yell as his perfect Susano'o met that charge and flurry of clashing chakra swords and punches, tails, and claws ensued. A chakra swordlock quickly followed and Kurama's free claw cut across giving four long cuts across the abdomen of Madara's Susano'o. Madara gave a growl as his Susano'o was slashed. But it quickly countered with a kick forcing Kurama slide backwards and breaking the bladelock. Madara's Susano'o leapt high into the sky and summoned forth a long strong of magatamas. At the same time Kurama's mouth opened and another _Tailed Beast Shuriken Bomb _began forming.

Naruto looked up at Madara and yelled, "This is it! This jutsu is gonna take you down for good!"

Madara shouted, "This will defeat you both!"

"_Tailed Beast Shuriken Bomb!_"

"_Yasaka Magatamas!_"

With those shouts Kurama launched his jutsu as did Madara. The jutsus clashed in midair and a blinding flash of light and explosion followed. The armor on Kurama cracked and broke apart in various places as it was driven into the ground from the explosion. Madara's Susano'o was flung back and into the ground. Dust and rubble flew everywhere surrounding the battlefield.

When the dust finally cleared there were no signs of Madara's Susano'o or Kurama. Sasuke had landing on the edge of the impact crater where Kurama had gone into the ground and in the bottom of said crater lay Naruto. His Kurama Mode going back into Chakra Mode before disappearing altogether. Naruto was laying unconscious at the bottom of the crater while Sasuke was barely holding on to his own consciousness. Sasuke looked in the direction of where Madara had landed. His eyes quickly reverted back to the Sharingan before returning to their normal black state. His eyes widened and he gave a gasp as he saw Madara slowly walking towards him. Madara had cuts all over his body including Hashirama's face. Sasuke was slowly losing consciousness. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Madara's wicked smile.

"Time for a change of perspective. Let's see what your view on the world is Sasuke." Madara said as Sasuke went unconscious. Madara gave a sadistic laugh as he stopped in front of Sasuke.

_***Meanwhile - In a cave far from the battlefield***_

Everything was pitch black within the cave, darker than the night and all that could be seen was a snake slithering about protruding from a man's stomach. This man had been placed under a genjutsu, an infinite loop. The same series of movements and counter attacks happening before him. When he suddenly looked up and smiled. He put his glasses back on and turned towards the exit of the cave.

"I know you're there. Hiding from me is pointless." The man readjusted his glasses on his face as he spoke this. A hooded man stepped forward into the middle of the entrance.

"My master has asked for you to accompany him in battle. If you will follow me I will take you to him. He claims that the people you have sided with have been going about things the wrong way. He'd like to offer you a new perspective on things."

"And should I join what is in it for me?"

The hooded man smiled and said. "My master has promised Sasuke Uchiha as well as a large number of subjects for you to experiment. He'd like a few special pieces in his plans."

The glasses wearing man wore a sadistic smile. _"Yes, Sasuke. It seems as though Obito's plan has failed. Well, I suppose it's time for a change."_

"Very well," he said. "If you'll lead the way."

A single leap carried him to the exit and with a few steps he was back out into the night. As a snake should be when he hunted is prey.

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There you have it guys, my very first story. Please R&R and feel free to message me. I'm open to any and all suggestions and ideas.

Next Time: _The Breaking Point__  
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	2. The Breaking Point

Disclaimer: Again. I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto the great does. I'm not making any money off any of this either.

A/N: "Speech" - _"Thought" _- **"Tailed Beast"**

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_"Our village won't even have a future unless we protect the most important thing."_

_"The most important thing?"_

_"So the future generations of villagers will think proudly of it. Leaf shinobi protect their friends and the village at the risk of their own lives, but listen. Since when do we __plan__ on sacrificing someone for the village? Are you really okay with that? Is that really who we wanna be?! Do you think everyone will be happy if that's how they're saved? Yeah it'll protect the village but it'll corrupt it too! The village I love just doesn't do things like that!"_

_-Naruto Uzumaki - Inheritors of the Will of Fire_

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_Episode 2: The Breaking Point_

_Season 1: The Dawn of a New Age_

_Series: The Era of the Sixth_

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_***On the Battlefield***_

"Time for a new perspective. Let's see what your view on the world is Sasuke" Madara said as Sasuke went unconscious. Madara gave a sadistic laugh as he stopped in front of Sasuke. Madara reached down towards Sasuke's eyes before jumping back suddenly as a three pronged kunai flew at his head. The kunai landed before a flash of yellow occurred and the reanimated Minato appeared in front of Sasuke. Madara gave a small smile observing this one armed reanimation.

"You came with Hashirama didn't you? Yes, you were one of the four Hokage who arrived. If you intend to stop me then you are gravely mistaken. One arm will not get you far in a dance with me." Madara said in a cold voice.

Minato stared at Madara for a while before speaking in a low, calm voice. "You may indeed be right, but...I have no intention of stopping you."

Madara smirked, "Really? Then what is it that you intend to do?"

Minato flung a three pronged kunai down into the crater where Naruto was, never breaking eye contact with Madara. A Rasengan began forming in his hand and Minato gave a small smile. "I..."

Minato had disappeared and reappeared directly behind Madara. "...will buy time! _Rasengan!_"

_***Meanwhile - With Sakura***_

Sakura was breathing heavy, trying to slow her heart rate down after the fact that she nearly died. That fact alone wasn't what scared her, though. No, what had scared her, terrified her even, was that she hadn't told _him_. She had to make things right with him, make him understand that she had meant what she said to him that day in the snow. She had to prove to him that she wasn't lying to herself, that she really did love him. Why didn't he see that she wanted him to stop chasing after Sasuke because she was worried about _him_ not Sasuke or anyone else? Yes she loved Sasuke but not in a romantic, get married, kind of way. He was like a wayward brother. _Him_, on the other hand, she truly loved him. Sakura had realized she had fallen in love with him due to the fact that she was nearly flatten. But the facts that he loved her were right in front of her, because whenever she needed him, he was right there, all the time. Even if right there sometimes meant the hospital because he was an idiot and pushed himself too hard, but still, she had found that she loved him dearly. Almost as though...he was an extension of herself.

Sakura was quickly awakened from her reverie by a sudden flash of yellow and white and the sound of someone landing. She turned her gaze and saw Naruto's dad crouched a few feet away from her with his head down. He looked at her and gave her a tired smile.

Minato said to her in a quiet, soothing voice, "Naruto used a lot of chakra in that last attack. My clone is there buying us time. I need your help to heal Naruto."

Sakura looked at him shocked and confused. The famous Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Naruto's own dad, was asking her for help. She stuttered a little before finally asking, "Why me? I'm sure there was another medical ninja closer to you."

She was stunned even more when Minato stood up and smiled at her. "Because, you remind me of Naruto's mother and you seem to truly care about him. His mother would want Naruto to find someone like her and I believe that that someone is you."

For the entirety of what he just said Minato walked over to Sakura and as he finished he put his hand on her shoulder. Sakura simply continued to stare at him in disbelief as her eyes began to water. She quickly rubbed her eyes as the two of them disappeared.

_***Meanwhile - With Madara***_

Madara gasped before crying out in pain as Minato drilled the Rasengan into his back forcing Madara to go flying over Sasuke and rolling and sliding across the ground kicking up debris and dirt as he went before skidding to a stop. He slowly stood up, coughing up blood as he did so. He smirked, though, as he raised his head to look at Minato. Blood dripped from the corners of Madara's mouth, creating a small pool at his feet.

"You're a pretty quick dancer. I'll give you that. But, in order to dance with me you'll have to step it up some." Madara gave a horribly, terrifying smile as he stood up.

Minato crouched down a little, ready to spring in a moment's notice. Although, he was breathing heavily. _"I'm low on chakra...at this rate...Madara will...unless...yes of course!"_

While Minato was strategizing Madara looked down at his hands as he flexed his arms a little. _"That jutsu was quite powerful. But no matter what jutsu they use so long as I have Hashirama's healing power I'll be fine. They don't have a single jutsu to counter it. Even if they used sage jutsu it would not be enough."_

Madara drew his gaze back to Minato before sprinting directly towards him. A black rod coming out of Madara's glove as he passed it over to his right hand, the hand he took from Zetsu. Another black rod appeared in Madara's left hand as he continued to sprint. He drew the rods across his body forming an X in front of him. Madara leapt high into the air passing over Sasuke, his target being Minato.

As Madara had leapt Minato had began to draw in nature energy, his eyes fading in and out of a frog like state.

_"Just a little more," _Minato thought as the orange rings began to form around his eyes as Madara came down.

_"Now!" _Madara screamed in his own mind as he swung the black rods back to their respective sides right at Minato's head. But Minato ducked at the very last second causing the rods to pass directly over his face. Madara gave a growl as he landed in front of Minato who had pulled out a three pronged kunai and, aiming for the face of Hashirama on the left side of Madara's chest, stabbed.

In a twirl, Madara spun away, a black rod swinging with him to bat the offending kunai aside. The two began a new dance, a dance of two rods and a three pronged kunai. Slashing and parrying, the one armed Minato barely keeping up with the furious attacks of Madara. A black rod dipped down low intent on taking Minato's leg out while the other came across hoping to behead the Fourth Hokage. Minato parried the rod aiming for his neck while the rod in Madara's right hand cut through Minato's knee causing him to pitch to his left. Minato hit the ground hard and looked up at Madara as both rods stabbed through him and into the ground.

Madara smiled and spoke in a cool, unnaturally excited voice. "This is the end Fourth Hokage. I guess you're not as good of a dancer as Hashira-"

Madara was interrupted though as eight three pronged kunai flew into his back causing Madara to lurch forward and look at the downed and impaled Minato, who gave him a small smile...before dispersing in a cloud of smoke. Madara spun as a nature energy enhanced fist slammed into his jaw, sending Madara flying and down to the dirt face down. He glanced over his shoulder with his one eye to see the real Minato standing over him with another three pronged kunai in his hand.

In a low whisper, barely audible to even the trained ears of Madara Uchiha, Minato said, "Now, it ends. Let us test the limits of Lord Hashirama's healing power."

_***Meanwhile - with Sakura***_

The dust in the crater was thick and when Sakura appeared in it she could scarcely breathe. She collapsed on her hands and knees gasping and spluttering for oxygen. As cool as the Flying Thunder God Jutsu is, in her current state she found nothing about the jutsu. Sakura opened her eyes curious about where they were. She remembered the Fourth say something about healing Naruto but all she saw was orange and a bare chest. Sakura's eyes widened with realization. _"Orange...that means this body is...Naruto!"_

She examined him carefully, and very slowly. His orange and black jacket barely on him any more. The entirety of his right sleeve, from the shoulder down was gone. His jacket was entirely unzipped and the fishnet shirt that he had on underneath was completely gone. The left leg of Naruto's pants, from the knee down, was shredded. Cuts lined his body for these were minor. Naruto was sweating heavily and clearly unconscious and covered in dirt. Sakura placed her hands on his chest as the green chakra of her medical ninjutsu glowed, healing him as fast as she safely could.

As she healed Naruto her thoughts and memories of everything he did for her flew through her mind. When Naruto had been brought to tears because he failed to bring Sasuke back for her after three years of training. When Naruto had put himself between her and Sora's attack. His Rasenshuriken training, defeating Pein. But there were only two memories that stood above the rest.

_***Flashback - Four years ago***_

_ They stood at the gates with the wind blowing, rustling the leaves of the trees and blowing a few through the air. Naruto stood at the gates with, Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, Kiba, Akamaru, and Sakura. The guys all had their packs on ready for the mission. A mission Naruto was already eager and set to succeed. But what Sakura had just asked of him..._

_He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "You bet. It's the promise of a lifetime!"_

_***End Flashback***_

_"That day," _Sakura thought as she stared at Naruto's peaceful face as she continued to heal him. _"That day hurt him more than anything else. And it's because of that day that...he..."_

Her mind turned to the other memory. One that had broken her heart more than anything else she had experienced. A nightmare of itself that had been caused by the promise she had asked Naruto to make four years ago. A memory that had been made in recent months.

_***Flashback - Land of Iron***_

_ The snow fell slowly and gently from the dark gray clouds that hung above. Almost as though it was a rain colder than anything else. The cold tears that she, herself, were unable to even begin to form._

_All because of him, the one who had unknowingly won her heart. Who had won it for a while now, a ways before he even left for Mount Myoboku. This rejection, she realized, is what he had felt all those times he had asked her. 'So this is how he felt,' she thought solemnly. As Naruto gripped her shoulders._

_"I hate people who lie to themselves Sakura!"_

_***End Flashback***_

Sakura had been so lost in her reminiscing that she failed to notice the deep cerulean eyes opening, or the fact that at this very moment, she was kissing him. And that he had closed his eyes and proceeded to kiss her back. Hoping to burn this moment into his mind forever. When Sakura realized what she was doing, she didn't stop, or back away. Instead, she poured more passion and love into that kiss. And Naruto's return of affection had increased tenfold.

They finally broke apart after a few moments of heated passion and Naruto stood up with a smile. His eyes possessed orange rings around them and they were frog like in appearance.

_"Sage Mode," _Sakura thought with a gasp as she got a good look at Naruto. Naruto crossed the index and middle fingers of his right hand with the same fingers of his left. Two shadow clones appeared on either side of Naruto as Naruto held out his right hand, palm up. The two clones began forming a _Wind Style: _

_Rasenshuriken_ in that palm.

"Naruto...don't..." Sakura said as she watched Naruto with a fear unlike any other. A fear for his life.

Naruto was not even looking at her though. His eyes were focused on the battle between Madara and the real body of Naruto's reanimated father. He continued to observe as the Rasenshuriken began taking shape. Naruto watched as Minato was forced back several steps as Madara unleashed his _Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation_. Minato completely disappeared behind the walls of fire.

_***Meanwhile - with Minato***_

Minato jumped high over the flames and saw Naruto's jutsu form. _"Finally."_ Minato threw his last three pronged kunai at Madara, forcing him to jump back. Minato disappeared in a flash and appeared behind Madara with a Rasengan in his hand. "_Sage Art: Rasengan_!"

Minato attempted to drill the jutsu into Madara's back but Madara was faster. Madara knew Minato was going to attack from behind so he spun and raised his left hand causing the Rasengan to strike the palm of Madara's hand. The jutsu was quickly absorbed and disappeared as Madara drained all the chakra from it.

Minato, his jutsu being drained of chakra, had balled up his fist and thrust it forward in an attempt to punch Madara and create some distance between the two. But Madara caught his punch in his right hand and spun Minato around him, throwing him into the ground creating an impact crater from the force. Minato struggled to get up as Madara pulled the two black rods out of the ground and ran them through Minato's shoulders piercing both body and earth as he was pinned. Madara stepped on Minato's chest, a third black rod poised just above his neck in Madara's hands.

Madara scowled down at Minato. "It's impressive that you caused some damage; however, none of it was enough to overpower Hashirama's healing power. But, for now, let us test the limits of the damage a reanimated body can regenerate. Your right arm has not regenerated. Shall we try your head?"

Minato watched in horror as the black rod was raised for a final stab.

_***Meanwhile - with Naruto & Sakura***_

Naruto glared at Madara as he raised his _Wind Style: Rasenshuriken _above his head. His two shadow clones poofing out of existence on either side of him. Naruto's grim visage hardened more as he fought to keep from panting. His body ached and he felt as though he had a few broken ribs.

Naruto continued to concentrate on his Rasenshuriken as he spoke, his words directed to his long time love.

"Sakura," he started as she looked back to him, her gaze having been drawn to the battle between Minato and Madara. "I know what I'm about to do is super reckless. And it could kill me. But I really do love you. Get Sasuke out of there. I'm gonna hit Madara full force with this."

Naruto took a step forward as Sakura leapt to her feet. "Naruto!"

Sakura's scream was lost on Naruto; however, as he jumped through the air right at Madara's exposed back, Rasenshuriken in hand. Madara spun and saw Naruto flying straight for him and swung the onyx rod right at him, hoping to slice through him.

Naruto deftly shifted his body backwards, causing the rod to slice threw his jacket as the Rasenshuriken was slammed into Hashirama's face, sending Madara and the Rasenshuriken flying backwards as Naruto screamed. "_Wind Style: Rasenshuriken_!"

Madara cried out in pain as the Rasenshuriken exploded in a ball of light with Madara at the center with thousands of tiny wind blades piercing his body from multiple directions.

_***Meanwhile - with Sakura***_

Sakura sprinted toward the edge of the crater where Naruto had been and leapt up to the edge of it where she saw Naruto's jutsu and, grabbing hold of the back of the collar of Sasuke's shirt, leapt back down into the crater to take shelter from the wind. Sakura peeked over the edge and watched the ball of wind as it encompassed Madara and watched as Naruto stood there panting with his right hand still outstretched from where he drilled his Rasenshuriken into Madara.

Naruto sank to his knees as he continued to watch his jutsu finish its effects on Madara. The rings around his eyes had disappeared and his eyes returned to their cerulean color, though dull from exhaustion, as the last of the nature energy he had drawn in vanished from his body. Minato gave a small smile and Naruto noticed his father's mouth moving but wasn't sure if he heard right as he fell face down, succumbing to his fatigue and exhaustion. Sakura leapt up to Naruto and kneeling beside him quickly began to heal him.

Minato smiled remembering all the times he had spent with Kushina and regretted not saving Kushina and staying alive himself so that he could get to know this woman that Naruto so clearly loves and adores. But Minato turned his attention back to Madara. Watching as he saw the distant figure fall into the crater that was created by Naruto's jutsu knowing it was Madara's body. _"A body with the Lord First's healing power…was that jutsu too much...is Madara finally at his breaking point?" _he thought as he watched it fall.

_***Meanwhile - with Madara***_

Pain, a feeling that shocked even him. A feeling that he currently had as he lay there in the dirt. A feeling that he didn't know he was even capable of as he tried vainly to pick himself up. Blood flowed freely from his body as he willed the healing power of Hashirama to activate.

But Madara couldn't feel it working but going under the idea that it would take some time for it to work and completely heal him he began to stand up. He was pleased to realize that the kunai in his back had been yanked out from the force of Naruto's jutsu.

That pleasure was very short lived; however, as he slapped a hand across his mouth as he coughed vehemently. Blood splattered across the ground and into his hand as he coughed and choked on the contents that ran through his own veins. Madara dropped back down to his knees, breathing heavily, his eyes fixated on his own blood. Blood that had spilled from the majority of his body after Naruto's attack. His blood, splattered across the earth, scared him, made him want to scream for all he was worth, for it reminded him of a very sobering fact. That he, the great Madara Uchiha, was truly mortal. Madara had not had enough time to use Izanagi when Naruto's jutsu struck and now….

His Mangekyou Sharingan wouldn't even activate so that he might use it. He would just have to wait until Hashirama's chakra had healed him. Madara glanced down at the face of Hashirama embedded on his chest and noticed a terrifying fact. The sage power was gone. The rings around the eyes and the mark on the forehead of Hashirama's face was completely gone. Without that power, Madara would die again. Death was a cold sleep, colder than even his own blackened heart. Madara saw his vision blur, felt his heartbeat slow, and knew that this was it. All his hopes and dreams, the goal of this entire war, would have to be fulfilled by _HIM._ Madara looked up and saw a blurred Sasuke land at the edge of the crater, Chidori in hand.

Sasuke had awakened and garnered the key facts from Sakura and Minato and upon seeing an unconscious Naruto knew that Madara must finally be down for the count. Sasuke quickly fled the area in pursuit of Madara to finish him off and now here he was, glaring down at the epitome of evil, an evil that he had almost became as well. Sasuke shuddered at the thought that he would have ended up just like this bleeding, rotting body before him. A body that he was about to destroy for good.

Sasuke raised his Chidori powered left hand, aiming at Hashirama's face on the left side of Madara's body.

"You do not deserve life Madara. The village that you and the First created, the same village that my brother gave his life to protect. The same village that I will become Hokage of, is the village that you almost destroyed. So I have one question for you. Why?"

Madara hesitated at first, pondering the answer before finally speaking in a still, small, weak voice, coughing as he did. "When your brother dies…at the hand of your best friend's brother. You begin to hate him, both the brother and the friend. And upon reading the Uchiha Stone Monument and how to achieve global peace one would only…choose to forsake everything for that peace…that...is why."

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the answer. After sorting through what Madara had just spoken into him, he snapped his eyes open, Sharingan activated, and growled. "_Chidori Light Spear_!"

The long electric spear sped from Sasuke's left hand and pierced Madara straight through Hashirama's face, causing Madara to lurch forward. Sasuke pulled back on his hand and swiped it through the air causing the spear to recede and the Chidori to fizzle out of existence.

Blood dripped from the corners of Madara's mouth and the small smile he had on his face went unnoticed as he fell forward into the dirt. As Madara drew his last breath he was left with a dying thought as he did not have the energy to speak. _"Enjoy your peace while you can foolish brats. I leave the rest to you...Izuna…" _With that final thought, Madara finally succumbed to death's will, his soul no longer among the living.

Sasuke looked around, taking in the sight of all the men and women taking care of their comrades before settling his gaze on Minato, Naruto, and Sakura. Minato's and Sasuke's eyes met and Sasuke called out to him, "I will burn Madara's body destroying his eyes and the First Hokage's cells."

Not waiting for an answer, Sasuke turned his attention back to Madara's fallen and mutilated corpse as Sasuke's eyes transformed into his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke raised his right hand this time, off to his right side, and muttered, "_Inferno Style: Flame Control_." Sasuke swept his hand across his body in front of him as a ball of black flame had appeared and, upon Sasuke's sweeping motion, descended upon the corpse of Madara Uchiha.

Sasuke had no idea how long he had stood there and he failed to notice Karin's arrival beside him. For once, she said nothing but put her left arm around his shoulders as Sasuke watched his ancestor's body burn. He began to ponder what would have happened if he had continued down his original path of destroying the Leaf and wondered if this would have also been his fate had he not learned the truth.

Hashirama landed in the crater and if Sasuke noticed he didn't show it. Hashirama stood off to the side watching the body of his long time friend burn. Both Sasuke and Hashirama were sharing the same thought at that particular moment. It was going to be a long recovery for the Uchiha clan.

_***Unknown Location***_

He sat in the dark of his chambers, as he always did. His dark outfit blending him in with the darkness completely, his mask, hanging around his neck and his twin swords leaning against the wall by the door. With his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan he had no need for the light anyways. He sat there wondering about his father, a man as dark as the room he was currently seated in, and how his own personal scheme would have a different outcome than that of his father's. The report that he had heard about his father's death and the jutsu used for it did nothing to unsettle him. He knew how charismatic his father was and how carried away he could get with things. His father had always seemed to care about the preservation of the lives of the innocent. That was only one of the areas of conversation where he and his father could never agree. The knowledge of the jutsu that killed his father meant nothing to him so long as he had his perfect Susano'o then nothing would ever touch him. Pushing the remaining thoughts on the subject out of his head, he turned his attention back to his own scheme knowing that Kabuto would be arriving soon.

"_Yes," _he thought, _"soon I will have enough power to surpass you father and achieve what you failed to do."_

He gave a wicked grin, his white teeth flashing in the dark, before disappearing behind the mask as picked it up off his neck and placed it on his head again as he stood up. A dark, evil, maniacal laugh erupted from his body muffled only slightly from behind the mask as he spoke to only the walls.

"Let them clean up from the war and recover. Let them rest and settle into peace. It will be so much more fun when I destroy that peace and show them how foolish they all truly are!"

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There you have it folks, episode two. Sorry it took me soooo damn long. This chapter gave me a lot of grief and it's all Sakura's fault. Dumb bitch. I know the whole romance between Sakura and Naruto probably seemed….cliche. I hope to remedy that in the next chapter. If you are someone who thinks you have my plot figured out, don't. Because even I don't know where it will go. I have most of the more immediate events planned out including character deaths. I know I'm a dick but hey. The good guys can't win all the time. It just doesn't work that way. Thank you to all those who have reviewed and are following this story. Again. If you have any questions, comments, ideas or just wanna say hey you guys can PM me. I'll get back to you as quick as possible. R&R for me please? Now, without any further ado, this is The 85th Naruto saying later!

* * *

_Next Time: Aftermath_


	3. Aftermath

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Naruto nor will I ever and I do not have any association with the owner, Masashi Kishimoto. All credit towards the creation of any and all Naruto characters, themes, ideas, plots, and places belong to he, Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: "Speech" - _"Thought" - _**"Tailed Beast" **- "_Jutsu_" Also, since Naruto has Chakra Mode and all that. I will clarify how I'll have things to better paint a visual in your minds. Chakra Mode is how Naruto looked when he first got control of Kurama's chakra. Kurama Mode will refer to his second stage with the chakra formed cloak and Naruto's black shirt. Tailed Beast Mode is the Nine Tails made from chakra. I'll simply refer to this as Kurama himself. If that's ok with you folks.

P.S.: Sorry this chapter took so long. College has started up for me and it really had me overwhelmed at first. I've gotten it under control though so it's all good :) however, please understand that updates may take a little longer depending on my workload but every chance I get I'll be working on this. This chapter took a lot more brainstorming than the previous two so I do apologize. Thank you all for being a loyal and patient audience. It really means a lot to me. Now, without further ado, _Aftermath_.

"_You don't become Hokage to be accepted by everyone. Everyone's acceptance is what gets you there."_

_-Itachi Uchiha_

_Episode 3: Aftermath_

_Season 1: The Dawn of a New Age_

_Series: The Era of the Sixth_

_***On the Battlefield***_

The sun had begun to shine upon the battlefield as it arose from the east. The light that it cast upon the Allied Shinobi Forces seemed so ironic to Hashirama as he stood by the burning corpse of his best friend. Shinobi and samurai alike were all rejoicing their victory while simultaneously mourning the deaths of their comrades and loved ones. Hashirama bowed his head in silent prayer before turning towards Sasuke who was now also surrounded by Suigetsu, Juugo, and Second and Third Hokage landed beside Hashirama and stared up at Sasuke. Sasuke ignored their gaze and pointedly showed it by continuing to stare at the remains of Madara's body, the burning ashes. Sasuke swept his right hand across his body, dismissing the black flames, before returning said hand to its respective side. Sasuke finally locked eyes with Hashirama, and in those cold onyx eyes Hashirama saw remorse in those eyes and….disappointment.

Hashirama was about to say something to him, anything to ease his troubled heart but Sasuke turned his back to Hashirama and spoke to Orochimaru over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Undo the jutsu, we have no need of the previous Hokage anymore."

Orochimaru turned and watched Sasuke's back as Sasuke marched in the direction of Naruto and Sakura. Orochimaru was about to voice his rebuttal when Tobirama spoke first.

"Do as he says Orochimaru. It's better for the ninja world this way."

Orochimaru lazily drew his gaze to the Second Hokage. Hashirama and the Third Hokage were staring at Tobirama as though he had three different heads.

"Tobirama, you can't be serious!"

"Lord Second! Why would you want us to leave?! We could be of great use!

Tobirama hadn't bothered to look at either of the two Hokage and instead, kept his eyes fixed on Orochimaru as he said, "They have to understand, that they cannot summon us for help whenever they need it. They must learn to do things on their own. What has transpired as of late is an interesting and new concept to us all. They are all a part of this newly formed idea; therefore, it is their responsibility to carry this idea forward in their own way. Without any guidance or influence from us. We thought we were shaping the world in a better way but we failed to realize that we were only shaping **our **part of the world and making little impact on the entire shinobi world as a whole. Let us leave it to those two, so that, they might succeed where we failed. What do you say?"

Hashirama gave a small smile and nodded his head in agreement. Hiruzen too, gave his consent and looked upon Orochimaru, reminiscing all the times that he had trained Orochimaru and the rest of the Sannin. But in watching Naruto and Sasuke interact with each other Hiruzen saw what could have been, and a wave of regret washed over him, knowing what Naruto and Sasuke had gone through to get to this point in their lives and knowing that if he had found a way to help stop Orochimaru then perhaps Sasuke wouldn't have had to leave.

Hashirama had similar thoughts running through his mind. In seeing someone have such a close relationship with an Uchiha made him wonder, whether or not he had done the right thing in trying to kill Madara when he attacked the village, instead of trying to subdue Madara and talk sense into him. Seeing Naruto's undying determination, Hashirama understood that in becoming Hokage he had lost sight of himself. It was in that moment that Hashirama lifted his sight line to the heavens and silently prayed that if Naruto becomes Hokage, that he does not lose sight of himself.

Both Hashirama and Hiruzen were broken of their reverie when they began to glow and broken paper started peeling off of them. They both looked to Orochimaru and saw him with his hands in the _Boar_ hand seal. Orochimaru had undone the reanimation jutsu and now the reanimated bodies were decaying. Orochimaru stared at the three Hokage and said, "It is done. The Reanimation Jutsu has been released. Your souls will all return to the land of the dead shortly."

Orochimaru then turned on his heel and walked away. Leaving Suigetsu and Juugo with Karin and the decaying Hokage in his wake.

_***Meanwhile - with Sakura***_

She had been healing Naruto for quite some time. She couldn't remember how long she had been at this but it must have been a while because she was becoming exhausted. She was still in bafflement and awe as to how Naruto had gathered enough strength to stand up, let alone launch such an attack even with the aid of Sage Mode, Naruto was exhausted and way past his own limits. She wondered, and not for the first time, whether or not Naruto had pushed the Nine Tails behind its limits too. She thought that maybe that was why healing Naruto was progressing so sluggishly as the Nine Tails had always seemed to help her heal his injuries, though definitely not out of any sort of friendship, at least not back then. But she had watched Naruto and listened to him and the way he spoke about the Nine Tails made her wonder if Naruto was now friends with the beast.

Sakura was removed from her musings when her peripheral vision caught the sight of Minato beginning to glow. Minato looked to Sakura and gave a small smile.

"Lord Fourth? What's going on?" Sakura asked quietly.

Minato smiled a little more and said, "Now that the war is over, we reanimated Hokage are no longer needed and will be returning to the Pure Land."

Minato turned his gaze to Naruto and his expression instantly grew serious. Minato stood up from the ground and strode towards Naruto. Those strides were not of a Hokage in that moment. No, those strides were of a father, a father determined to talk to his son one last time before he departed. Minato stopped beside Sakura and kneeled beside her.

"Sakura, place one hand on Naruto's stomach and the other on my chest. I'm going to use you as a medium to transfer my chakra over to Naruto so that I may speak with him one last time."

Sakura did as instructed and placed her hand that was closest to Minato, being her right hand, on the Fourth Hokage's chest, directly above where his heart would be. Sakura's left hand went to the center of Naruto's abdomen. Sakura closed her eyes in deep concentration knowing that what the Fourth Hokage was asking of her required precise chakra control in order for Minato's chakra to be transferred into Naruto.

Minato focused his gaze on Naruto's face as he channeled his chakra into Sakura, who in turn channeled it into Naruto. Minato knew that his reanimated body was falling apart faster as he was giving away his chakra, but he wanted to be able to talk to his son and leave enough chakra behind in Naruto that Naruto would be able to ask him as many questions as he wanted via Kurama and his own mindscape.

Sakura felt the chakra flowing through her and, as she channeled the Fourth Hokage's chakra into Naruto, could feel that chakra flowing directly into the seal. For a brief moment Sakura was concerned that the seal would be undone; however, she understood that it was the Fourth Hokage who had applied the seal and knew that if there were going to be any complications he would have warned her about them. She hadn't dared open her eyes for a fear of her becoming distracted.

Sakura finally opened her eyes when she felt the flow of Minato's chakra stop. She looked to wear Minato was or, rather, where he had been. In Minato's place was the body of White Zetsu, with a tree sprouting from his back, face down in a pile of debris. Sakura looked to Naruto and, with a quick medical scan, kissed him on the cheek before sitting back in the dirt.

She wasn't alone for long though and was startled by the arrival of: Gaara, Tsunade, Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Shizune, Lee, Tenten, Gai, Kankuro, Sai, Temari, Shikamaru, Choji, and a very drained and exhausted Ino and Obito. Sakura looked to them in awe and Shikamaru answered her unspoken question.

"We came to check on our friend, and not just us," Shikamaru motioned to the army that was heading in their direction. "But his other friends too."

Sakura looked up at Shikamaru and smiled. "He's ok. He just needs some rest that's all."

Gaara gave a small smile, Tsunade laughed while Shizune breathed a sigh of relief. Choji said something about a feast in celebration while Lee and Gai yelled something about youthful Naruto was while hugging each other, before Tenten unrolled her scroll and bound and gagged them both. Hinata smiled happily while Kiba gave a cheer causing Akamaru to bark in agreement. Shino made some comment to Sai who simply nodded in agreement while Shikamaru mumbled something about a drag. Until Temari hit him then gave him an earful for saying such things about his friends while Kankuro watched and chuckled nervously. Obito and a heavily leaned on Kakashi watched the group of friends.

Ino, though, began to tease Sakura despite the state she was in. "So Forehead, are you in Naruto an item now? I mean I saw that kiss on the cheek so I'm thinking you love him."

Sakura turned to Ino with her fist raised in front of her and veins popping out on her forehead. "Exactly what's it worth to you Ino Pig?! Jealous that I got a man first?!"

Ino yelled back, "No! I just want the details that's all!

"What makes you think I'd tell you?!"

Kakashi merely sighed while Obito gave a small chuckle. "This generation is something else, eh Kakashi?"

Kakashi gave a nod as he responded. "Yeah, definitely closer than ours."

Obito looked to Kakashi before allowing his stare to fall to the ground before muttering, "A generation that I nearly destroyed. All because I lost sight of myself, because I gave up on myself."

Kakashi lazily drew his gaze to the distraught Obito before turning it back on the others. "You're wrong you know."

Obito snapped his head up and looked at Kakashi in confusion. "Wh-What do you mean?"

"You didn't lose sight of yourself, you lost sight of what mattered the most. You lost sight of the truth because you lost Rin. That's what the difference was between you and Naruto. When you lost people precious to you, you lost your sight of the truth. When Naruto lost people precious to him, his sight of the truth only intensified. He became more determined to bring that truth, that dream to everyone. And one by one, slowly but surely, everyone saw it. Because Naruto refused to let anyone or anything change him and his dreams. No matter how drastic the situation, Naruto stayed true to his sight of the truth, of his goal. Yours didn't and that's why you nearly destroyed this generation. And in the end, it wasn't really you, it was Madara. Regardless, Naruto came through for everyone, because he cares about everyone and because of that care that he has, he will never give up."

Obito looked back to the others as Kakashi finished. The thoughts of everything that Kakashi had just spoken were swimming through his brain. Was it all true? Had he really lost sight of what really mattered? Was that what had happened? And was it really because Rin had died or was it because the man that he entrusted her to was the one who killed her? These questions had already begun to haunt him. Obito continued to mull over these questions and what scared him the most wasn't the questions themselves. No, what truly frightened him was how he would answer these questions.

_***Meanwhile - With Sasuke***_

Sasuke had been walking for quite some time now. At some point while he had been walking Karin had broken away from him helping to heal other shinobi. In truth though, Sasuke hadn't paid too much attention to her. Any of the shinobi that he had passed gave him cold looks or ignored his existence entirely, which he didn't mind a bit. He was getting closer to the edge of the battlefield as the ninja were healing the wounded and moving towards Naruto, their hero, to make sure he was alright. Sasuke couldn't care less about Naruto in that particular moment, or about anyone else for that matter. Sasuke leapt to the edge of some loose rubble before turning around to look at the Gedo Statue. Sasuke paused upon seeing the Statue and on a whim decided he would get rid of it before Orochimaru or anyone else could have it.

With a blink of his eyes the cold onyx disappeared and was replaced by his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke's Susano'o flared to life around him and a chakra gourd appeared in the Susaon'o's right hand. Sasuke focused on the navel of the Statue before muttering, "_Totsuka Blade_."

His Susano'o removed the cork from the gourd and a chakra sword shot through the sky and pierced the abdomen of the Gedo Statue. The Statue was slowly drawn into the gourd as the chakra blade retracted back into said gourd before Sasuke's Susano'o capped the gourd sealing it away for good.

Sasuke stared at the gourd for a while, knowing the kind of power that rested inside. Sasuke thought carefully about what to do with the gourd and the Statue sealed inside before making up his mind.

Sasuke focused on his Susano'o and the gourd in its hands. His Susano'o carefully took the gourd and moved it so that each end was held in the palms of Susano'o's hands. The larger end of the gourd was in Susano'o's right hand leaving the smaller end in the left hand of Susano'o. Sasuke mentally willed his Susano'o to begin applying pressure on the gourd. Slowly his Susano'o started pushing its hands together causing the gourd that held the Gedo Statue to crack before finally shattering into shards of chakra as Sasuke's Susano'o's hands met. The destruction of the gourd resulted in the destruction of the Gedo Statue as well as seven of the nine Tailed Beasts. The shards of chakra faded away as did Sasuke's Susano'o. Sasuke glared down at the Allied Shinobi Forces.

"Hmph," he said. Sasuke went through a series of hand signs before biting his thumb and slamming his hand on the ground. "_Summoning Jutsu_!"

A large puff of smoke and a hawk appeared. Sasuke leapt onto the back of the hawk and using the cover of the smoke from Sasuke's summoning jutsu, quickly ascended before flying away into the night.

In destroying the Gedo Statue and believing the war and threat of Madara, Kabuto and, the Akatsuki to be finished, Sasuke had no idea of the whirlwind of events that was rapidly approaching.

_***Meanwhile - with Naruto***_

The sound of a drop of water falling to the water that covered the floor echoed throughout the area. Naruto stood in the water and looked up to Kurama in this dark area. Naruto couldn't help but smile at his friend, a friend that he had despised for a long time and it was something that he regretted. Naruto wanted to so much to make up for how he had treated Kurama.

Because of that, Naruto began to walk towards Kurama. Each step that he took made him even more determined and in just a few seconds he stood before the mighty Kurama.

"Hey Kurama thanks for the help in the war. There's no way we could've won without you."

Kurama looked down at Naruto before snorting, **"Don't thank me you brat. I don't need that kind of sentimental bullshit."**

Naruto smiled and said, "Sure you do because we're friends. And it's because we're friends that I have something to offer you."

Kurama looked at Naruto confused. **"What do you have that I could possibly want? There's nothing on this planet I want you dork."**

Naruto's smile at Kurama's retort could have lit up the night. Naruto looked Kurama straight in the eye, the ever present gleam of determination held there.

"Sure there is silly, your freedom."

That's the end of this chapter. Again, sorry it took so damn long, college and coaching has been keeping me busier than hell. I'll definitely work on putting these chapters up faster and I've worked on this every chance I had. Sorry if it appears cheesy or similar to anything else you've read. Believe me, all this is coming out of my own head. Lately, I've been working on planning out the next few chapters but I keep coming to a dead end. Obviously in no way am I ending this. I just want you all to understand that future chapters may take a little longer as I'm trying to make the storyline as great as possible. Anyway, who's excited for The Last: Naruto the Movie? What do you guys hope to see? Drop a review or a PM and I, The 85th Naruto, will see you guys later!

_Next Time: Kurama's Decision_


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